Stop, jot, and share. Use the superpower of reflection

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Stop, jot, and share. Use the superpower of reflection to cement the value of the information you take in.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Gardie Design & Social Media Marketing

What types of information are you taking in these days? What are your strategies to not have the most valuable information go in one ear and out the other?

Consider the concept of eating and digestion. How do you select the most healthy and appetizing items to consume?

How do you chew on these ideas and mix this mash with the saliva and digestive juices of your past experiences and existing wisdom?

How do you discern and absorb the best nutrients and discard any waste products not meant for you?

EXERCISE:

How would jotting in a notebook or journal aid in your reflective skills to squeeze out even more nuggets of wisdom from your information diet?

Friday Review: Trust

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FRIDAY REVIEW: TRUST

How trusting are you? How trust-worthy are you? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

 

 

 

“To trust yourself, to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed.”

 

 

 

 

“Tell a lie once and all your truths become questionable.”

 

 

 

Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you act

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“Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.”

—Leonard Cohen, late Canadian singer-songwriter

Image from Unsplash by Kyle Head

To what degree are you the person you want to be? Where do you see gaps that you wish to bridge in your personal or professional worlds?

Consider examining the lives of people you admire and respect within your various communities. What are others doing and achieving?

Examining the lives of people outside our communities and studying the biographies of remarkable people from the past can also provide clues to how we wish to live.

EXERCISE:

Where and how can you begin acting in the way you would like to be?

What specific behaviors have been modeled for you by others, to guide you to act the way you would like to be?

“It is difficult to be creative and enthusiastic about anything for which we do not feel affection.”

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“It is difficult to be creative and enthusiastic about anything for which we do not feel affection.”

—David Whyte, Anglo-Irish poet

Image from Unsplash by Dragos Gontariu

What are the things in life you love the most? Where do you find yourself being the most creative and enthusiastic?

Complete the following sentence. “I am looking forward to….”  Repeat this sentence five or six times for both your personal and professional efforts.

What activities and people spark your energy and engagement? Where and with whom do you find yourself going through the motions, waiting to punch out so that you can get on with the good parts of life?

EXERCISE:

Filter your day’s activities through the lenses of the words: More, Less, Start, and Stop. How does your affection and desires to engage in some of these pursuits enhance your enthusiasm and creativity?

Re-examine all that you have been told. Dismiss that which insults your soul.

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“Re-examine all that you have been told. Dismiss that which insults your soul.”

—Walt Whitman, 19th Century American poet, essayist and journalist

Image from Unsplash by Markus Winkler

In our journey toward greater mindfulness and self-awareness it can be helpful to stop and re-examine our own perspectives and views of the world around us.

Where and when did you first become aware of specific beliefs?

What factors had you embrace them as your own?

To what degree do you remain open to examining your thinking and not simply accepting what you’ve been told to believe and how to act?

Just because we have done something a particular way for many years does not necessarily mean it is the way to go when you have new information to consider.

EXERCISE:

What are some of your current beliefs that no longer serve you? How might revisiting your thinking through a more soulful lens help you live a more fulfilling and meaningful life?

Stop and look up. Ask yourself, is this the mountain I wish to climb

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Stop and look up. Ask yourself, is this the mountain I wish to climb?

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Netflix.com

In the world of mountain climbing, Nirmal Purja stands in rarified air.

In the recent Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible, he and his team attempt to climb the world’s 14 highest peaks with an altitude greater than 8,000 meters (26,247 feet) within a 7-month time frame. The previous record was seven years.

Project Possible, as it is called, tackles numerous personal, social, cultural, and financial obstacles that only add to the monumental physical, mental, and emotional achievements. Insights into Purja’s unstoppable drive and resolve is an inspiration for all of us looking up and within ourselves, to reach for our own personal and professional summits.

EXERCISE:

What are your most mountainous goals and objectives?

How can you engage your own supportive communities to realize your own project possible?

Please watch this inspirational movie and let me know what lessons you take away.

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable

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“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”

—Seneca, ancient Roman philosopher & statesman

Image from Unsplash by Christian Wiediger

What things in life get you excited and stir your passions? What activities and efforts really float your boat?  How fast and how far have these winds taken you personally and professionally?

Sometimes people find themselves adrift in the middle of nowhere without direction. They often feel lost at sea with a sense of queasiness and loneliness without a place to drop anchor. It’s at such times that our passions can be combined with the purpose of a north star to guide us home.

EXERCISE:

Where and how can you more fully combine both passion and purpose in your life to sail confidently and contently into the welcoming harbors of your world?

The best thing for being sad, replied Merlin, is to learn something

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“The best thing for being sad, replied Merlin, is to learn something.”

—T.H. White, Author of The Once and Future King

Image from Unsplash by Dan Dimmock

Research has shown that when we do the same things day after day we fire and wire our neurons to generate consistent and ingrained patterns of thinking and acting. If we happen to be sad over extended periods of time, changing things up can alter our brain chemistry, improve our overall well-being, and strengthen our social connections.

Engaging in new physical activities, taking a creative class, and even learning new recipes and cooking techniques are just a few ways to break your patterns so that a more positive outlook on things can emerge.

EXERCISE:

How can and will you embrace Merlin’s wisdom and engage in some new learning effort to magically boost your mood and chase some clouds away?  Feel free to reply to this post with what new learning efforts work best for you.

We are more like a breathing puzzle, a living bag of pieces, and each day shows us

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“We are more like a breathing puzzle, a living bag of pieces, and each day shows us what a piece or two is for, where it might go, how it might fit.”

—Mark Nepo, Author of The Book of Awakening

Image from Unsplash by Ross Sneddon

I used to believe that puzzles were something you only did to pass the time on vacation or on a rainy day where there was seemingly nothing to do. These days puzzles are an almost daily activity with my grandson Weston. He keeps graduating to increasingly more challenging images with more and more pieces. Matching colors, finding the straight edges, and of course securing those all-important corners are all part of his increased mastery.

Take the metaphoric leap to view your own life as an 80,000-piece effort. How can you be more focused and intentional about flipping, sorting, and placing your living, breathing pieces to build your own less puzzling masterpiece?

EXERCISE:

What parts of your personal and professional puzzles are you piecing together? Who are the people sitting around the tables of your life that can help and support your efforts?